Comparison is a habit.

In part, this is good news, because habits can be broken.

However, I believe we often run to comparison because we seek comfort or relaxation.

What might drive us to seek comfort could be a long day at work or school.

As C.S. Lewis says in one of my favorite books of all time, Mere Christianity, “ In religion, as in war and everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth – only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair.”

I believe that particularly in this context, seeking comfort often results in comparison. Which results in an outcome that C.S. Lewis identifies as despair in the above quote.

Most literally this despair is seen when we perform the daily habit of scrolling through the lives of others on social media.

I’ve mapped out a bit of this cycle below:

Driver  = Tired

Tired = Seeking Comfort

Seeking Comfort = Social Media

Social Media = Comparison

Comparison = Despair

We first make our habits, and then our habits make us. – John Dryden

If you’re seeking comfort through social media, that’s a problem.

Identify what habits you have that lead you to compare and then proceed to break them.